


Our Loves are Terrestrial

by midwinterspring



Series: As Certain Dark Things [3]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Emperor Kylo Ren, Empress Rey (Star Wars), Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Kid Fic, No Pregnancy, Parents Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Slice of Life, Some politics, lots of plants, reylo child, sith wolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28376049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midwinterspring/pseuds/midwinterspring
Summary: Empress Rey and Emperor Kylo Ren want to appear more Sith. Their twelve-year-old daughter Talia wants a pet. The solution is surprisingly adorable.Written for vulpines after a Twitter conversation about pet Sith wolves in this setting. It was fun to incorporate some of my other headcanons about this AU. I hope you enjoy!
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: As Certain Dark Things [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731745
Comments: 17
Kudos: 52





	Our Loves are Terrestrial

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vulpines](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulpines/gifts).



> Thank you to [TristenCrone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TristenCrone) for betaing this! Thank you to [RedPaladin465](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedPaladin465) for great worldbuilding conversations and for prompting the first story in this AU.
> 
> The beautiful moodboard is by [@folklxre](https://twitter.com/foIkIxre)!
> 
> Lots of references and more headcanons in the end notes!

The palace conservatory smells like greenery, and roses, and _life_. The sky through the transparisteel ceiling is grey, and occasional snowflakes whirl away from the shields that protect it, but inside it's warm and humid enough that Rey and Kylo have both shed their cloaks. They sit at a table on a stone terrace, slightly elevated so they have a good view of the lush space. They can sense guards at all of the doors, but inside, it's just them, enjoying some time to themselves over lunch.

Their table is far from the poisonous plants that fill one section. Instead, they are surrounded by roses with silken true black petals and extra long sharp thorns, a variety developed in Rey's honor and named "Empress's Smile". She does smile often when she sees them, although the rumors that her teeth are nearly as pointed as the rose thorns are just that — rumors, or perhaps a common illusion when she draws on the Dark Side particularly fiercely.

That's not the case right now. The Force is a soft hum around her, gentle at the moment, and a deeply-felt bond between her and her husband. Their connection has only strengthened through almost fourteen years of living and working together.

She finishes her tip-yip over greens, fresh from one of many enormous greenhouses on their capital planet. Taanab's production capacity is immense, and even more so with the resources she and Kylo have been able to provide. The majority of it goes to the Outer Rim, and these days, it usually arrives where it's supposed to and gets to the people who need it without being intercepted by pirates or criminal syndicates.

She and Kylo have done a lot. Still, there are challenges, and Rey remembers one she had been meaning to address.

"Rumors are starting again, questioning how Sith we are," Rey says, reaching for a plate of honey pastries that have been set out by a teapot.

"I thought those went away after Pryde retired," says Kylo.

"They did," says Rey. "Griss is hearing rumblings again though, from some in the fleet."

"The Sith Eternal can hardly accuse us of not being observant."

It's true. They go to Exegol and do the rituals, several times a year, in a vast stone sanctuary that resounds with chanting. Afterwards the silence is so deep, and Rey listens to the spaces between the stars and the whispers of the Dark Side that bleed through Exegol's Vergence. Then they come back to Taanab, where everything is growing and new.

"Of course," says Rey. "They might be noticing they no longer have the influence they once had." She and Kylo have worked to maintain a good relationship with the cult, while also making sure their Sith Troopers aren't the only troops on their fleet. As she reduced the number of active Xyston-class Star Destroyers, and she and Kylo permanently ended the practice of cultists raising their own offspring to be Sith Troopers from birth, they might rightfully feel disgruntled. But questioning Rey and Kylo, Empress and Emperor by right of killing Palpatine in the approved manner, goes against the tenets of their cult. There are other Dark Side cults, but they're smaller, and none have the patronage, however perfunctory, that the Sith Eternal do.

"Perhaps we should invite Griss and some fleet captains to Exegol next time, then," says Kylo. "They would have no doubts, after seeing you there." Through the bond, he shows her what she looks like during the rituals, eyes burning amber under the black hood of her robes as ancient words hiss from her crimson lips.

They have both known for a long time that she delves more deeply and easily into the Dark Side. She turned willingly, after all, and she takes on what might hurt him so that he can heal. She cherishes the softness he only shows to her and Talia.

The bond is open enough that he picks up on her thought about Talia. Their daughter is having her own lunch elsewhere at the moment, with some of her friends. They've tried to give her as close to a normal childhood as they could - sometimes especially challenging since neither of them had one.

"Talia asked me about getting a pet. Or pets, plural," says Kylo. "She said she talked to you too."

Rey smiles. "She did. I've thought about it for a while, and I think she's old enough. She hadn't narrowed down what kind of pet she wanted, though, when we talked."

"Last I heard, she was interested in some kind of canine. Or vulpine," says Kylo. "Foxes seem like they would be severely challenging to keep inside, though."

Rey thinks for a moment, remembering their previous conversation, then pulls up something on her datapad and shows Kylo. "Canine? I have an idea."

*

Talia settles down on her meditation bench in her sitting room. She's just come from a dance lesson. Force meditation while sitting still doesn't come easy to her, but it's easiest when she's just been moving. She loves to connect to the Force while dancing or sparring too. Today she was learning Nabooian courtly dance, and she had to pay too much attention to her steps and hand movements to relax and listen to the energy that connects all things. So she sits now, with her lesson finished, shifting around on the bench while she reaches out with her feelings.

Between one breath and the next, the connection opens, and she relaxes. She senses the people buzzing around the Palace, but her favorite beings to listen to are the many, many plants. She extends her senses to all the green growing things in the conservatory, and then beyond. A whole planet cycling with the seasons, growth and decay all together. When she reaches out to the Force, that's the only thing she understands, this balance. Warm and cold, bright and shadow. Life and death, forever renewed.

After a bit, she brings her attention back to the room, sensing the people nearby in her family's apartments. A Force presence rippling with contained chaos means that Ushar is guarding her door at the moment. Then, something further away catches her attention. An intensely focused signature in the Force that is both singular and double — her parents. As they come closer, she senses others: the swirl in the Force that is Vicrul and the soft, hidden presence of Ap'lek. But there are completely unfamiliar beings with them, too. There are three small, fierce presences in the Force unlike any she's met before.

She hears a knock on the door and stands up excitedly, smoothing down her lavender dress. "Come in, please," she says.

Ap'lek enters first, steering a small hovercart with a large cage on top. "Your Highness," he says, bows, and withdraws. 

Her parents come in then, anticipation lining the edges of their Force signatures. When the door closes behind them, their stern public expressions soften into smiles.

"We would have brought you these earlier," her dad says, "but Ap'lek and our ambassador to the Core were delayed."

Talia walks up to the cage slowly. She can sense curiosity from the inhabitants. They want to get out of the cage and play.

"They can sense your emotions," says her mom.

Talia crouches down so she can look into the cage. Six pairs of eyes on three heads look her way. Six pointed ears prick up. "Sith wolf pups!" she says. "You really found them - three of them!"

"Ap'lek found them," her dad says. "They're siblings who were orphaned. We didn't want to separate them."

"I'm glad you kept them together," Talia says. She looks at them again. "Hello friends. I'm Talia. I don't know what I'll call you yet. Do you want to come out?"

Their tails wag, and she hears little whines. She tries to keep her Force signature calm. She looks at her parents.

"It's all right. Go ahead," her mom says.

She opens the cage slowly, and the pups jump out. Their heads are reddish-orange, and the rest of their fur is black. Their teeth are sharp, and right now their expressions look like they're smiling. They bounce around, but stay near her.

She holds out a hand for them to sniff. They each smell her hand, then come closer. "Aren't you the cutest, all of you?" she says.

They wiggle closer to her, tails wagging even faster. "Can I pet you?" she asks. They almost jump onto her lap, and she gently pets each of them on their backs. She senses excitement from them, but nothing aggressive. They try to lick her face, and she puts her arms around them.

She knows she'll need to take care of them and train them. She's already had a talk about that with her parents, and how she can't just expect her attendants to take care of them. That's fine — she wouldn't want to. She wants to spend lots of time with the pups, and knows that she needs to to make sure they continue to be good pets as they get older.

One of them is particularly affectionate. She lays back on the floor, and it cuddles next to her and touches her forehead with its nose, then bounces away. The other two want to take their turn, too. She laughs as she feels their cold wet noses.

*

Rey smiles as she watches Talia with the pups. Her daughter's Force signature is joyful, and the pups seem content.

 _So glad she's happy_ , thinks Rey.

 _That was a good idea, to suggest Sith wolves,_ thinks Kylo.

They see their beloved daughter, happy with her first pets. But the rest of the galaxy will see a Princess, accompanied by dangerous force-sensitive creatures. Both are correct, in their way.

After a bit, Talia stands up again, and the pups follow her to where Rey and Kylo are standing. "Thank you so much," she says, as she hugs both of them at once. "I'll take _such_ good care of them."

"We know you will," Rey says.

One day Talia will be responsible for far more, if she chooses that path. Rey hopes that day is still far in the future. But today, in a sunlit sitting room, she can play with wolf pups, safe and loved.

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from "Oda a la jardinera" by Pablo Neruda, translated by Ben Belitt.
> 
> I'm working on a multichapter fic and at least one more one-shot in this AU!
> 
> While betaing, TristenCrone mentioned she could imagine Rey and Kylo "hamming it up" at the next ritual on Exegol, for the benefit of the non-Force sensitive officers, and then laughing about it in private. I can definitely see it!
> 
> I imagine the Knights of Ren in this AU functioning somewhat like the Kingsguard in Game of Thrones.
> 
> [Garfield Park Conservatory](https://garfieldconservatory.org/) is one of my favorite places to visit in the winter. It was part of the inspiration for Rey and Kylo's conservatory, along with a tiny bit from the heated patio at [Fireside](https://www.firesidechicago.com/).
> 
> I initially thought of the image of Dark!Rey among poisonous plants and black roses for this AU, before incorporating it in ["Blue Butterflies and Black Roses."](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27075679/chapters/66110062).
> 
> The first chapter of ["Smoke and Ambrosia"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26227066/chapters/63832936) contains microfics from this AU, including a mention of Zambonis in canonverse.
> 
> I love Dark!Rey, and you can read other versions of her in ["Not Without Your Darkness"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26726140) and ["speak so slightly"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27613150).
> 
> The sith wolf pups were partially inspired by [this art](https://twitter.com/TheKeyThief/status/1219711388416802816).
> 
> After I first wrote about Talia, I realized that one of my inspirations for her and her relationship with her family are the yearly limited edition perfume series Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab does in honor of the founder's daughter Lilith's birthday and what their family did that year. (Lilith is also involved in designing the perfumes.) The picture for [Boop](https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/lilith-2020/boop-perfume-oil/) is relevant to this story.
> 
> Here are some videos I watched for research on wolf and puppy behavior (they are, of course, adorable.):  
> [BBC Earth: cute wolf pups](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMuMIcQx9Qc)  
> [BBC Earth: more cute wolf pups](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVN14lf8yTc)  
> [BTS answers fan questions while playing with puppies.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PhPYr_9zRY)  
> (Disclaimer if needed: wolves don't actually make good pets. People occasionally do have pet foxes, but they really will wreck your house and aren't legal to keep as pets in many places.)
> 
> I'm on Twitter as [@midwintersprin1](https://twitter.com/midwintersprin1). Feel free to say hi, and let me know if I need to tag anything in a DM, a comment here, or on Discord.


End file.
